Advanced Stats Make Clear Case for Maple Leafs to Overpay for Sam Bennett This Offseason

With Toronto looking ahead to 2025-26 after a heartbreaking Game 7 collapse against Florida, they are going to be in the market to add some new faces while saying goodbye to several old ones.

All the talk is about surrounding the potential of adding Sam Bennett this free agency in order to bring in a playoff monster with the ability to 'change the DNA' as Brad Treliving so put it.

It's going to be expensive, and he will have his fair share of suitors (even if some believe it's only down to Toronto and Florida) but after some new stats emerged regarding the Panthers' offense this postseason; it might be worth it to overpay a bit.

Thanks to user JFresh on X, he unveiled the Florida Panthers' offensive analytics when 5v5 through the first three series, and leading the pack is Bennett showing that he's got more bite to his bark than some think.

Creating the most chances at 5v5 for his team, while also helping his team control the pace of the offense, Bennett is making things very easy for the Panthers to get through to the Cup Final for the third straight season.

He has 16 points in 17 games (10G, 6A) including 85 hits in that offensive outburst which is on pace with his regular season output.

He gets a lot of flak for not being a true offensive dynamo, but if he's creating chances and giving his team the ability to score, that's equally as important as counting stats.

In a vacuum, absolutely, considering the 2026 free agency class is expected to be one of the most coveted in recent memory.

But Toronto is in win-now mode, and with their continued failures in the postseason, making that superstar signing doesn't necessarily mean a Stanley Cup berth.

Signing Bennett however does give the Maple Leafs an x-factor they've never really had in the Auston Matthews era. He's scored 45 points in the last three playoffs alone, and his knack for taking out opponents while dirty; is unquestionably effective.

Some are thinking he's going to make upwards of $10M per season, and it might reek of desperation if Toronto jumps the shark to sign him for that.

Giving him a six-year, $54M deal would bring him past Auston Matthews' current deal, and near the end of William Nylander's. That, plus a re-signed John Tavares and Matthew Knies gives Toronto a new quartet that has a window of 3-4 years to win.

You also have to remember the cap is rising, and that $9M per year salary will depreciate to a much more favourable deal come 2028.

While that seems like an overpayment for Bennett, especially given his age, the free agent market next year, and his supposed lack of offense.

But while Mitch Marner was as much a regular season superstar, Sam Bennett is one in the playoffs; and that's something Toronto needs much more than 100 points.